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REPORT 



OF THE 



Bronx River Parkway Commission 



Appointed Under Chapter 669 
of the Laws of 1906 



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REPORT 

OF THE 

BRONX RIVER 
PARKWAY COMMISSION 

APPOINTED UNDER 

Chapter 669 of the Laws of 1906 



Madison Grant, Chairman 
James G. Cannon, 
Dave H. Morris, 

Commissioners 

Wm. W. Niles, Secretary 
J. Warren Thayer, Engineer 






THE TROW PRESS 



NEW YORK 





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To the Governor of the State of New York: 

The undersigned respectfully report that in pursuance of Chap- 
ter 669 of the laws of 1906, an Act which provides for the appoint- 
ment of commissioners to inquire into the advisability of preserving 
the waters of the Bronx River from pollution, and of creating a 
reservation of the lands on either side of the river, they were 
appointed commissioners by the Hon. Frank Wayland Higgins, 
Governor of the State, and that they thereupon qualified as such 
commissioners and organized by the election of Madison Grant, as 
Chairman, and James G. Cannon, as Treasurer, and that they ap- 
pointed William W. Niles, Secretary, and J. Warren Thayer, En- 
gineer. That immediately after their organization, the Board made 
a careful personal inspection and examination of the Bronx River 
from Bronx Park to Kensico Reservoir, and repeated this per- 
sonal examination from time to time thereafter. That they famil- 
iarized themselves wdth the present condition of the stream, the 
improvements along the borders thereof, the appearance and 
topography of the adjoining land. That they were greatly im- 
pressed with the natural beauty of the stream and its immediate 
surroundings where the march of alleged improvement had not 
impaired that beauty, and of its great importance to Bronx Park, 
and those great institutions, the New York Botanical Garden and 
the New York Zoological Park, which are located in the Bronx 
Park, and to the portion of Westchester County through which the 
stream runs. That the Board felt the necessity from the outset 
of immediate action if the river was to be saved, and concluded 
that its preservation was important not only to the City of New 
York but to Westchester County. 

In looking for a precedent for action to save the river, the 
Board found that it was not necessary to go abroad where such 
action is quite usual, but that here at home enlightened communi- 
ties had already commenced to take such steps, as for instance in 
the case of the Wissahickon, in Philadelphia, and of the Charles 
River, in Boston, and it also found on investigation that through- 
out the Union municipalities were awakening to the necessity of 
taking concerted action in order to preserve tracts of unusual nat- 
ural beauty from destruction and to maintain them for public use. 



Under the terms of the Act, the commission was required — if 
it should decide in favor of creating a reservation to preserve the 
Bronx River — to prepare a map or plan of said proposed reserva- 
tion, showing the lands necessary to be taken, and to include in 
its report an estimate of the cost of taking the lands necessary 
to constitute such reservation, and to report its views as to how 
such cost should be met. 

Having unanimously decided that the reservation should be 
created, the Board instructed its engineer to prepare a map or plan 
following certain boundaries as to extent which were indicated by 
the Commission. The area taken being limited by the consideration 
of the cost which the acquisition of the land to be taken would 
entail, but always including such amount of land as was neces- 
sary to carry out the purpose of the Act under which the Com- 
mission was appointed. This map or plan was not completed until 
the Commission had obtained full information as to the proposed 
plans of the New York Central Railroad Company, which oper- 
ates the Harlem Railroad, running along the bank of the river 
almost its entire length, and which proposes a widening of the 
roadbed of its railroad and of the plans of the New York, New 
Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, which has recently ac- 
quired a large tract of land lying on either side of the Bronx 
River between Woodlawn and the northerly line of Bronx Park 
in the City of New York, and of the Bronx Valley Sewer Commis- 
sion, which is working upon a plan for a great trunk sewer through 
the valley of the river from White Plains to Woodlawn, and of 
the President of the Borough of the Bronx, in whose office plans 
have been prepared for a boulevard to be known as the Bronx 
Boulevard, running parallel with the river and some few hundred 
feet eastwardly therefrom, from Bronx Park to Woodlawn in the 
City of New York. The map or plan prepared by the engineer 
shows all of these proposed improvements so far as they had de- 
veloped at the time of the preparation- of the map. Conferences 
were held by the Board with representatives of the Sewer Com- 
mission, of the New York Central Railroad Company, of the New 
York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, and of the 
President of the Borough of the Bronx, and all of these represen- 
tatives heartily approved the general plan of the Commission and 
assured it of the hearty co-operation of their respective principals 
when the matter should come before them officially. 

In determining, as it was bound to, the cost of taking the lands 



necessary to constitute the reservation, the Board decided that the 
fairest basis of valuation would be the present value as assessed for 
the purposes of taxation, and has based its estimate of cost upon 
such assessed value. After careful consideration of the subject and 
conferences with representative taxpayers in the City of New York 
and County of AVestchester, the Board decided that the cost of 
the improvement should be divided between the City of New York 
and the County of Westchester in the ratio of two-thirds for the 
former, and one-third for the latter, and that this cost should be 
met by a bond issue in the necessary amount. 

Some of the considerations which have influenced the Com- 
mission in its conclusion are as follows: 

BETTERMENT AEEA. 

The City of New York, with its narrow peninsular form, be- 
tween the Hudson River and the Long Island Sound, is exceptional 
in having" really only one landward extension from Manhattan 
Island. The land connection extends througli the Borough of 
Bronx and lower Westchester County; and is a comparatively 
narrow territory, only six and a half miles wide at the north line 
of the city, and at Tarrytown, the distance is only seven and a 
half miles from the Hudson River to the Connecticut line. 

In general topography, this territory occupies a rising elevation, 
a succession of valleys and wooded ridges extending along the gen- 
erally parallel, dying spurs of the Green ^Mountain and Berkshire 
Ranges. 

In the longest of these valleys lies Bronx River. Its course 
runs almost south and parallel with the Hudson through West- 
chester County and the Borough of the Bronx, and terminates, so 
far as picturesque features are concerned, in the Zoological Park 
and Botanical Gardens. Between the city line and Kensico Lake, 
the river forms the boundary between the cities of JMount Vernon 
and Yonkers, and the townships of Eastchester, Greenburgh, Scars- 
dale, White Plains, Mt. Pleasant, and North Castle. 

Thus between the so-called " Hudson River Section " on the 
west, and the towns designated as ' ' Along the Sound ' ' on the east, 
there is an equally well-defined middle or interior zone, the Bronx 
water-shed, uniform in its interest and development, having an area, 
north of Bronx Park, of about fifty square miles. This district is 
developing with great rapidity. 



WIDENIN'G CITY GEOWTH. 

Statistics show that the population of all our large cities is 
increasing with the greatest speed in the outer zones. In New 
York City, perhaps the most congested in thr world, because of its 
close water surroundings, we are also witnessing a new and marked 
trend of city overflow to the suburbs; and with the completion of 
new transportation facilities, as against the former ferry-boat and 
bridge, a large portion of this Vvill naturally be diverted to the 
immediately adjacent AVestchester section. 

The Harlem Division of the New York Central & Hudson 
River Railroad is being converted for four-track electric rapid- 
transit service, while other transportation, water, electric light, 
gas, and various service corporations and State realty interests 
are already in extended operation, and projecting larger invest- 
ments. Progressive municipal and community projects — highways, 
schools, churches, etc., are seeking to keep pace with, and stimulate, 
progress. 

Without attempting to give figures for the Borough of the 
Bronx, the Commission on Bronx Valley sewer reports existing 
property valuations of $30,000,000, and anticipates ultimate popu- 
lation of 850,000 on the Bronx water-shed beyond the city limits. 

POLLUTION AND KIVEE CONDITIONS. 

The Bronx is the most important stream in the metropolitan 
district, with an increasing utilitarian and esthetic value, important 
in view of the constant increase of the city's population. A present 
movement is on foot to obtain government aid to make the lower 
tidal outlet of the river navigable to "West Farms; but the portion 
under consideration, flowing through the Zoological Park, Botani- 
cal Gardens, and above, is a comparatively shallow stream, except 
in freshet. The upper course lies through a most picturesque 
valley and amid delightful surroundings, but in the vicinity of 
Bronxville, Mount Vernon, and below, to Bronx Park, its chan- 
nel winds through old erosion bottoms, widening from 300 to 
1,000 feet between the railroad and the line of the New York 
aqueduct. 

With insufficient current to carry ofl; the sewage and refuse 
discharged into it, the stream is rapidly becoming an open sewer; 
the low meadow and marsh lands, always wet and, at seasons, 



overflowed, are not suited for habitation. Added to this, is the 
usual condition along a railroad line, which as mentioned, runs 
close to the river. In the city portion, and in some of the towns 
above, there is a low class of development and increasingly unsani- 
tary conditions. These already constitute an intolerable nuisance 
and serious menace to public health, apparently being neglected 
until some disastrous epidemic shall bring it forcibly to public 
attention, 

IMPOKTA:t^CE OF KELIEF ACTIOK 

The present polluted stream, flowing through the City Botanical 
Gardens and Zoological Park, and heretofore one of their most 
attractive features, greatly injures and endangers the use of these 
great recreation centers for multitudes of city people. The mag- 
nitude of these institutions can be estimated from the fact that 
2,200,000 people visited them in 1906, and that they had cost the 
City of New York $2,500,000 for their improvement and an annual 
outlay of $200,000 for maintenance. It is impossible to estimate 
the loss and detriment to general progress and to the value of all 
properties adjacent to the river zone, of a continuance of such con- 
ditions. Adequate remedy is obtainable through action by the State. 

EECLAIMING KIVER. 

Where either drainage or diversion of streams is not expedient, 
practically only two courses are open to get rid of objectionable 
watercourses in a city's precincts. The first, particularly familiar 
to old residents of Manhattan, is the enclosing of and building over 
the stream, which, when gradients permit and cost is not too great, 
affords satisfactory and full hygienic remedy. It is manifestly 
inexpedient and undesirable to overcome the present troublesome 
existence of so large a stream as the Bronx River by any such 
means. In this case the only final remedy lies in reclaiming the 
entire river, and the acquiring of the lands along its course to 
prevent all discharge of sewage and other pollution and the con- 
tinuance of noxious river conditions. 

Also notably demonstrated in similar instances in our large 
cities, the river reservation thus acquired and the restored stream 
is worth to the community far more than the entire cost of the 
project. 



LAITDS TO BE TAKEK 

Upon the map accompanying this report there is shown and 
designated, in section colored green, the lands and territory along 
the river which your Commission recommends as a river reserva- 
tion. The determination of this area has been arrived at only after 
the most careful consideration and personal investigation by all 
of the Members of the Commission and its Engineer, taking coun- 
sel with City and Department Officials and with representatives 
of the various communities and property interests affected. 

Briefly, the reservation comprises a strip of land, varying in 
wddth from 300 to 1,000 feet, approximately 15 miles in length, 
and including approximately 125 acres in the city and about 900 
acres in "Westchester, including the river itself. This would be 
equivalent to a continuous strip 540 feet in width. 

For the most part it is physically and logically defined. The 
Harlem Railroad, following the level grade of the valley, occupies 
the west slope, 10 to 20 feet above the stream, and with several 
crossings forms practically a continuous boundary. 

The proposed new Bronx Boulevard forms an equally natural 
boundary along the easterly slope from Bronx Park to AVoodlawn; 
above Woodlawn to Scarsdale, the so-called " New York Pipe 
Line," or aqueduct right-of-way, again forms almost a continuous 
boundary on the west. Thence to North White Plains, with the 
railroad still on one side, the opposite boundary is taken along a 
natural line at the top of the slope, for the most part through un- 
divided lands. At the lower end of Kensico Lake the reservation 
Avill join the new area and reservation being established by the 
New York Board of Water Supply for the projected storage reser- 
voir, occupying some 4,000 acres. At the same point it also con- 
nects directly with the State Eoad extending from White Plains 
northerly through the center of the county. 

In considering in detail the limits of the reservation, particu- 
larly in the three miles through the city limits, the Commission 
reconmiends that no in'operty be taken except in the low river 
lands, and on the adjacent slope for one hundred feet only. As 
above stated, the lands are not occupied or adapted for wholesome 
development, and it is found that the area thus physically defined 
includes practically the entire zone of nuisance which it is desired 



to eliminate through the city and outer communities, and removes 
all menace to public health for the future. 

In the case of a few important buildings, not constituting an 
actual menace, these have been excepted from the reservation. 
Also at Bronxville and Tuckahoe Stations, and through the Yon- 
kers Park development, the perhaps natural reservation has been 
narrowed, where character or development may be deemed perma- 
nent and not detrimental. 

On the other hand, it is deemed expedient at some points 
through the Westchester portion to widen the reservation in part, 
to take in some additional land where it is possible at compara- 
tively small expense, and to obtain special forest and scenic features 
worthy of preservation for aesthetic and parkway benefit. 

As to streets and highways included, it is not desired to close 
or interfere with any of these which are in regular and legitimate 
use, or which may be necessary for future traffic, but it is proposed 
to acquire and extinguish, wherever expedient, all semi-established 
and privately opened streets, which will have no utility after the 
reservation has been created. 

Obviously, therefore, the reservation comprises only lands of 
lowest value; through the city, with scattered and only nominal 
improvements ; and in the outer portions, mainly undivided tracts, 
with owners generous and in many cases willing to contribute out- 
right for park lands. 

These tracts lying along the river and railroad, being hereto- 
fore practically unavailable for development, are still almost un- 
spoiled, and with much of unusual picturesque and aesthetic interest 
will contribute inestimably to the value of the reservation for park 
development, 

ADDED BENEFITS. 

Even neglecting the consideration of the imperative need of 
a remedy for unhygienic conditions, the question of the reclaimed 
river and reservation is one of paramount importance to the city 
and future local populations in the unusual opportunity and possi- 
bilities for the development of a superb River Parkway. 

It is reasonal^le to contemplate either the acquiring or includ- 
ing in such development, under some expedient arrangement, the 
new Bronx Boulevard and the so-called " Pipe Line " right-of- 
way belonging to New York City, both already partially improved 



10 

with driveways, which would make material addition to the total 
area, approximately 100 acres. In the same connection, it will be 
expedient to co-operate with the Board of Water Supply of New 
York City for the opening of Park lands about the proposed new 
storage reservoir, comprising approximately 4,000 acres, which will 
be the most extensive inland water and point of interest near the 
city. 

The project for a trunk sewer through the Bronx Valley in 
Westchester County is rapidly advancing, and preliminary surveys 
and working plans have been completed. The acquisition of the 
river reservation will permit the most expedient location of this 
sewer, saving the entire cost of acquiring right-of-way and ease- 
ments, and admit of considerable economj^ in greater latitude of 
location and construction. 



PAEK DEVELOPMENT. 

Professor Zueblin states that " no phase of city making speaks 
more eloquently of the change in American ideals than the growth 
of parks, playgrounds, and boulevards," and " that not acreage, 
nor mileage, but distribution is the standard to guide park com- 
missioners. ' ' 

While New York City has been famed the world over for its 
splendid park development, it is now surpassed by the City of 
Boston in the total acreage and comprehensive scope of its park 
system. The City of Chicago is acquiring extensive areas for a 
new Outer Park System, anticipating her growth for twenty j^ears 
and a population increased to 8,000,000 ; and similar progress 
might be cited, more or less marked, in all of our large American 
cities. 

Also noticeable in this awakening and greater consideration of 
civic and a?sthetic development is the growing sense of unity and 
intimate relationship between the city, and its suburbs, resulting 
in the increasing subordination of local differences for the sake of 
metropolitan advancement. 

Thus far practically no provision is being made for parks or 
open reservations in the city's only immediate suburb, and which 
may, in the not distant future, be actually absorbed in its limits. 



11 



BRONX RIVER PARKWAY. 

We have ample demonstration of the value and success of simi- 
lar reclamation of rivers and parkway development in the near-by 
Fairmount and Wissahickon improvements at Philadelphia, and the 
Fenwaj^s of Boston, the latter treating with almost precisely similar 
conditions. 

The proposed sanitary reservation along the Bronx River is 
peculiarly adapted for such development, both as to its unusual 
physical opportunities and from the fact that it will open up an 
entirely new^ phase in the development of the city's park system; 
providing a direct, level, and attractive boulevard to the city from 
the open countryside ; and with the large Kensico Lake reservation 
as an objective point, we have only to picture the completion and 
extension of the Riverside Drive improvement along the Hudson 
River, and the similar development of a line along the Sound, to 
complete a very comprehensive outer park sj'stem for the city, with 
the proposed Bronx Parkway as a central feature. 

The recently organized Palisade Commission is at the present 
time engaged in the construction of a parkway, lying along the 
westerly bank of the Hudson River, on a similar scale, so that this 
forecast is not too ambitious. 

In addition to the increase of the Park System of New York, 
the advantage to local communities is doubly accentuated in the 
fact that it will not be merely a community adjunct ; but following 
along the railroad through the entire electric zone, immediately at 
hand from every station, it may be pictured as a transformed life 
artery, extending through the heart of these communities, and a 
factor making for progress the value of which is difficult to 
estimate. 

DEVELOPMEI^T. 

As to development, the best results will undoubtedly be obtained 
in simplicity and naturalness of effect, preserving and utilizing to 
best advantage the endless combinations of natural charm and 
scenic possibilities in forests, rocky valleys, meadow land, and 
water, in which the Bronx Valley affords the utmost possibilities. 

In the river reservation it will also be noted that widened por- 



13 

tions occur at expedient intervals, near Mt. Vernon, Bronxville, 
Yonkers Park, and AVhite Plains, which may be even further ex- 
tended by the addition of local parks through conjunction with the 
local communities, for development of special parks and recreation 
areas, with playgrounds, gymnasia, baths, boating, athletic fields, 
and other devices for public recreation. 

In other parts the parkway reservation might at first thought 
be deemed insufficiently wide for desirable development, at some 
points barely admitting- passage of the river and connecting drives; 
the restriction can be overcome by effective screens and planting, 
and with the careful merging into the wider open portions an en- 
tirely agreeable, continuous effect will be obtained. 

Investigation shows that it is expedient, with modification and 
regulation of the river channel, to solve the flood problem and 
obtain sufficient drainage for the park use and wholesome condi- 
tion of the river lands; and with the erection of occasional dams 
an infinite variety of waterways and small lakes will be obtainable 
at moderate expense, through which the entire valley of the Bronx 
from Kensico Dam to West Farms can be opened to rowboats and 
canoes. 

For the many reasons stated the Commission is unanimously of 
the opinion that steps should be taken forthwith for the acquisition 
of sufficient land in the vicinity of the Bronx River to protect the 
waters of the stream itself, and in doing so preserve enough of 
the natural beauties of the Bronx Valley to add an attractive park 
scheme to the preservation of the river. 

The Commission fully realizes that to carry out such a scheme 
as they propose will involve considerable expense, but the com- 
pelling argument in the present case is the fact that unless the 
land for the preservation of the Bronx River is acquired at once 
the opportunity will be lost forever. The river itself, unless pro- 
tected, will soon become an intolerable nuisance and will have to 
be obliterated. The natural beauties of woodland, meadow, and 
rocky ledges will soon disappear before the devastating hand of 
man. The increase in values, owing to the rapid peopling of West- 
chester County, will soon render the scheme financially impracti- 
cable. The Commission feels that these reasons are imperative and 
that no other conclusion tlian the one Avhich they have reached was 
possible. In this connection it is satisfactory to be able to report 
that, so far as their individual experience goes, the eonunissioners 
have not met with one dissenting voice, but that all who have ex- 



13 

pressed an opinion on the subject to tliem have expressed themselves 
in favor of it. 

The practical question as to how the scheme shall be carried 
out presents some difficulties. The lands to be taken are located 
largely in Westchester County. A portion of them, however, lie 
within the County of New York. There is no existing body upon 
which, in the opinion of the Commission, could be satisfactorily 
imposed the preliminary work of carrying into effect the scheme 
which the Conniiission has in mind, and although it is not the pol- 
icy of the State Government to increase the number of State com- 
missions, it has seemed that the wisest course to pursue in this 
particular instance was to appoint a State commission, who should 
have charge of carrying out the present scheme to the extent of 
acquiring the land and formulating and carrying out a plan of 
improvement. This Commission need not necessarily be a perma- 
nent body. Eventually this whole territory will become a part of 
the Greater City of New York, and will then naturally fall into 
and form a part of its vast park system. Although the Bronx 
reservation will undoubtedly in the future thus become a part of 
the city or metropolitan park area, and under the jurisdiction of 
some metropolitan board, it would, in the opinion of the Commis- 
sion, be extremely unwise that the acquisition and improvement 
of the Bronx Valley Parkway should at the present time be within 
the control of the Park Department of the City of New York. The 
lack of attention which the large park areas in the northern part 
of the City of New York have received from the city authorities is 
already the occasion of much criticism and complaint b}^ the citi- 
zens residing in the portions of the city and of Westchester County 
adjacent to the parks. It is but natural that a busy city official 
should devote his attention to the i^arks in the ratio that he is im- 
portuned to do so by the citizens, tlie result being that the chief 
interest of the officials and the very large bulk of money is spent 
upon the parks in the populous parts of the city, and that the out- 
lying districts get but little attention. This fact is a strong argu- 
ment in favor of the appointment of a special commission, who 
will have at heart the proposed improvement, and will not have 
their attention diverted in other directions by the importunities of 
citizens or the pressure of official duties. 

For the reasons stated the Commission recommends that an act 
be passed constituting a commission of not more than three persons, 
who shall have charge of the acquisition of the land necessary to 



14 

carry out the park scheme, and the adoption of a plan of develop- 
ment and improvement of the lands when acquired, and who shall 
have charge of the maintenance of the park reservation at least 
for the immediate future. That the members of this Commission 
should be paid a reasonable salary, sufficient to warrant their 
devoting the large amount of time which will be necessary to 
carry out the scheme in its inception. The commissioners should 
have power to acquire the lands by purchase, as from inquiries 
which the present Commission has made it is convinced that a large 
part of the proposed area to be taken can be acquired from the 
property owners by private arrangement on practically nominal 
terms. 

The cost of acquiring the laud and of laying out and maintain- 
ing the park reservation should be divided between the City of 
New York and the County of Westchester. The ratio presents a 
question of some difficulty. The majority of the land to be taken 
lies within the County of Westchester, and it might be contended 
that Westchester County should bear the larger part of the cost 
of the acquisition of the land and of the maintenance thereof. On 
the other hand, the preservation of the river is of vital importance 
to the citizens of New York. The Bronx River forms the chief 
beauty of Bronx Park, which is in itself one of the most beautiful 
of the city park areas and is a dominant feature of the New York 
Botanical Gardens and the New York Zoological Park. The loss 
of it to the city would be a public calamity. It is the opinion, 
too, of the Commission that the park reservation would be more 
largely used by residents of the city than of Westchester County. 
As yet the residents of Westchester County do not feel the need of 
public park advantages, and w^ould resent being called upon to 
pay very heavily for them. Just what proportion each community 
should fairly bear it is difficult to determine, but the Commission 
has concluded that a fair division would be for the City of New 
York to pay two-thirds and the County of Westchester to pay one- 
third. As the cost of acquisition will be considerable and the 
benefit will be for all time, the Commission is of the opinion that 
the fairest method of raising funds necessary to acquire the lands 
would be by authorizing the communities aff'ected to issue bonds 
sufficient to meet the cost. 

The interest upon these bonds will be a comparatively small 
amount, and in Westchester County, at least, the increase in real 
estate values in the period for which the bonds will run will make 



15 

the redemption of them at the expiration of that period a small 
matter. A sinking fund for the redemption of the bonds could 
be provided for if thought necessary. 

The estimate of the cost of taking the lands necessary to con- 
stitute such reservation, based upon the assessed valuation of the 
same, is $1,650,000. 

The Commission cannot close its report without expressing its 
very high appreciation of the interest expressed in its work and 
the hearty co-operation and assistance received from the officials 
of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Company, the 
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, the city 
authorities of the City of New York and the various cities and 
towns along the line of the river, from the authorities of the New 
York Botanical Gardens and the New York Zoological Society, the 
Board of Water Supply of the City of New York, and the Bronx 
Valley Sewer Commission, to whom the Commission is especially 
grateful for maps, surveys, and general information supplied, which 
have greatly lessened the labors of the Commission and without 
which the Commission would have been put to great expense. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

Madisox Gra^^t, Chairman. 
James G. Cannon, 
Dave H. Morris, 

Commissioners. 
December 21, 1906. 







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PHOTOS BY COL. E. 



HAVERS 




River Portion at Woodiawn. 




View North from Opposite Rail oj ISi-iihic .1/ 




Of Increasing Utilitarian and Esthetic Value in View of the Growth of the City's 

Population. 




Proposed Bronx Boulevard to extend along Hillside Facing. 




Polluted Stream and River Conditions. 



MENACE TO HEALTH, RIVER ENVIRONMENT EVERYWHERE RETARDING 
DESIRABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. 




River Lands. Bronx Park to Mount Vernon. 




THE NATURAL BEAUTIES OF WOODLAND, MEADOW, AND ROCKY LEDGES WILL 

SOON DISAPPEAR. 



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